Every time an over 5 magnitude earthquake jolts Bangladesh, panicky people discover themselves in the grip of fright. However, this state of insidious anxieties is eventually replaced by a spell of oblivion. After yet another mild earthquake (5.2) was felt in Bangladesh on October 2, the country witnessed the same old picture. It had the experts put forward the need for emergency steps like the instant start of rescue operation drills. The October 2 tremor was the latest of the 34 minor ones in the last two months in and around the country. Seismologists have detected in these quakes the signals of a massive temblor. These telltale signs are pointed out every time a minor earthquake shakes the country in the recent times. But like in the previous cases, the temporary fit of dread or fear is consigned to oblivion. So are the dos and don'ts after a deadly quake strikes. Being the dictates of time, it doesn't take long for life's nitty-gritty and things mundane to overtake people. The ostrich syndrome cannot be more apt than here.
The dread continues until another fraught situation is created by yet another tremor. In the meantime, few can say with assertion that the Big One will not strike with its long accumulated force. Not all devastating earthquakes are preceded by smaller tremors. To cite an instance, the Great Assam Bengal Earthquake struck a vast swath in the Assam-Bengal region in 1897. It showed few signs in the whole area before it struck with a magnitude of 8.7 on the Richter scale. Almost a similar picture was encountered in the cases of some other great temblors in the sub-continent. They include the Assam-Tibet Earthquake in 1950, the Nepal-India Earthquake in 1934, and the Imphal Earthquake in 2016. Few other quakes shook the vast region in between, a few of them being near-devastating.
A series of minor or mild earthquakes have been shaking Bangladesh since 1997, when Chattogram was jolted by a nearly major temblor by Bangladesh standard. It killed 23 people and injured 200. Since then the country has been intermittently shaken by minor earthquakes, the latest being the tremor on October 2. Seismologists dealing with earthquake fault lines active in Bangladesh have long been warning the authorities in the country's big cities of disastrous earthquakes. According to them, big temblors strike an earthquake-prone region every one hundred years. In accordance with this count, Bangladesh has crossed its 100-year gap back in 1997. In the second decade of the 21st century, Bangladesh is due for the assault of the next calamitous earthquake. As the seasoned experts estimate, given the series of mild earthquakes striking the land unabated, its people had better remained prepared for another Big One.
The knowledgeable people in general are well aware of the fact that earthquakes, mild or massive, have no warnings. Unlike cyclones, volcanic eruptions, and, even, tsunamis, earthquakes strike humans and habitats without the least precautionary signal. As a general rule, earthquakes catch the victims unawares. Many interpret the fact of earthquakes striking human settlements mostly by night as a typical feature of the disaster. Although there is sufficient electric light in the neighbourhoods, at one time darkness engulfs the quake-hit areas. Yet in advanced countries, they have arrangements for emergency electricity. In the densely populated cities like Dhaka with weak urban infrastructure, including electricity, rescue operations are feared to be a daunting task. It is equally true during the daytime. The very thought of clearing the concrete rubble using mostly antiquated tools and just a handful of modern heavy machinery makes one panic-stricken. The massive task of rescuing people trapped under collapsed high-rise structures makes even highly trained people feel bewildered.
Helplessness in the face of these challenges is a common spectacle in the least developed countries. But the upper middle-income countries are also found grappling with these adversities. A recent case was the Turkish earthquake that jolted a part of the country not long ago. Limitations in rescue operation stood in the way of saving people from under the chunks of concrete slabs in a remote rural area. However, this dearth of rescue tools in many countries is managed by putting to use heavy machinery. The sophisticated and heavy equipment are normally brought from a country's developed areas. Almost all the regions in quake-hit developing countries witness the similar pace of progress. In many countries, all state efforts are channelled to the capital for its all-round development. There are few possibilities of technological support and mechanical backing from other areas.
In a small country like Bangladesh, the impact of a devastating earthquake in capital Dhaka can be felt in the nearby urban centres as well. But the reality is these areas lack the capability to extend mechanical support to the quake-hit capital. The state of the port city of Chattogram is almost the same, maybe a little better. Moreover, there is the fear of quake-prompted disruptions to road communication between Dhaka and Chattogram.
Amid this appalling mess, the capital along with its emergency rescue units may have to shoulder the gigantic task of saving lives, putting out large and small blazes, sealing gas and water pipe leaks, rushing the badly injured to hospital etc with no help coming from outside. Worse, the feared major temblor may not be the Big One. Odds are that the coming earthquakes will be followed by the real massive one. In the history of tremors, one earthquake shortly followed by another is not rare. In the case of the Assam-Bengal region, the time from the 1897 disaster just keeps ticking away. Against a fraught backdrop of frequent mild quakes in Bangladesh, the Big One may strike any moment. This is no time for basking in obliviousness.
shihabskr@ymail.com
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